It is well known to straws to drink liquid out of cans, bottles, and wide variety of other containers. A straw allows a user to create a partial vacuum to draw liquid out of a container and into their mouth so that it can be swallowed. There are many reasons why using a straw may be preferable to drinking directly from the container. To begin, it is often unsanitary to drink from the exposed parts of a container. These parts of the container often become dirty when the container is shipped or awaits purchase. By using a straw, a user avoids direct contact with any of the exposed portions of the container. Another reason for using a straw is to avoid contact with sharp—and therefore sometimes dangerous—parts of a container, e.g., the mouth of an aluminum can. Yet another reason for using a straw is the added convenience it brings to drinking from a container. Specifically, when a straw is being used, the container does not need to be tipped in order to drink.
Straws typically must be purchased separately from drinks, or they are provided gratis to a drink buyer at the point of sale. Straws that are separate from containers often become misplaced. Therefore, it has been known to attach straws to some containers, e.g., drink boxes. Even more convenient is providing a drink container which includes a self-contained straw. As evidenced by prior art patents, there have been many attempts to provide such a container.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,674 to Pearson is for a container with a built in straw. The patent discloses a drinking straw that is formed with a flexible corrugated section of material that is fixed to a flexible tab. The tab may be bonded between the sealing flaps of a paper container with the straw held inside the container. Alternatively, the tab can be fixed between the seal disk and cap of a bottle so that the straw may be suspended inside a bottle. This reference provides no teaching of a cap system that is recloseable.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,817 to Payne et al. for a straw assembly for a liquid container. The patent discloses a straw assembly for a liquid container having a pull tab closure over an opening in its top. The straw—which has a float mounted thereon—is free to extend to its full length when the container is opened. The device disclosed in this reference is not recloseable. Moreover, this is a relatively complicated design.
Thus there is a need for a recloseable cap system for a beverage container that integrates a straw for convenient user access.